What inspired you to start The School of Hard Knock Knocks?
Co-founder, Morry Morgan, saw a gap in the market. Comedians took years to develop under the ‘late night, perform to a disinterested group of other comedian wannabes’ model. A new model, of engaging Australia’s best comedians to mentor these comedy newbies, under a structured methodology, seemed an obvious solution to fast track new comedians.
For someone who’s keen to get into comedy but doesn’t know how, what advice would you give them?
Trial and error will only get a comedian so far. Without guidance, feedback and later, mentoring, a new comedian is likely to spin their metaphorical wheels, and later, have trouble getting regular paid gigs.
What kinds of skills do you teach your students?
Over the five-night course, we cover joke structure and creation, confidence-building and memory techniques, as well as body language, volume, tone and pause technique. Three comedy coaches are employed over the nights, and students get access to our online course prior to and after the course.
Where do you hope for the graduates to take their skills next?
Graduates are invited back to perform as the ‘middle bracket’ at future graduations. We also run a monthly comedy room in Melbourne, and select seven graduates to perform alongside a headliner. Our graduates are also invited to perform at the Adelaide Fringe and Melbourne International Comedy Festival each year – all paid!
Start your comedy career at The School of Hard Knock Knocks, located at 522 Chapel St, South Yarra. Apply for their September and October courses via their website, schoolofhardknockknocks.com.
